Every hour in the UK three more men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and at least one will die of the disease. It is now the most common cancer to affect men. Many more men have the disease without even knowing it, or experiencing any symptoms. Yet nearly 85% of the public have no idea where the prostate is, what it does or what can go wrong with it. Age is the strongest factor in the susceptibility to prostate cancer. In other words, the older you get, the more likely you are to get the disease. Since we are all now living longer, this partly reflects the increasing number of cases being identified.

What you should know:

•Prostate cancer has become the biggest cancer killer of men in the UK. It kills one man every hour• Each year nearly 47,000 men in the UK are told they have prostate cancer and more than 11,000 die of the disease• Worldwide numbers are staggering. Each year over a million men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 300,000 die from it• Cancer of the prostate can be treated effectively even if it has spread beyond the gland but the disease must be caught early to achieve excellent cure rates• It is vital that men over 50 are aware of the potential problem and consult their GP routinely​• Every man over 50 has the legal right, by Act of Parliament, to a PSA test​